The Arts and Academics Academy in Springfield prides itself not on its ability to assess its students with tests and quizzes, but its ability to offer them a chance to prove they know whatever material they’ve learned for the term. This is called “Proficiency Grading,” and offers a lot of chances for exploration and creativity.
Thus, every term for the last two years, the students of the A3 school have put on a show for the public called “Confluence.” One year, students had to design and budget an eco-friendly building for Springfield’s revitalization project and actually pitch it to the people in charge. None of their buildings were chosen, but it still gave them great experience.@@lol@@
This term’s performance was called “The Science that Surrounds Us,” and it featured a scaled-down replica of the McKenzie River. Every two years, the juniors and seniors put on the Physics Carnival, featuring multiple rooms of carnival games that each demonstrates some property of physics.
I got the chance to get a first-hand tour from one of the sophomores; a classy, suited-up kid named Lars Shweighauser. The morning I attended the performance, there were also hundreds of seven-year-olds running around, visiting from local elementary schools. We had to navigate around the throngs of ridiculously short people so I could see everything.
First he took me through “A River Runs Through It,” the presentation of the model of the McKenzie River.
A3’s freshmen and sophomores spent months researching river systems – how they flow, how they interact with their environment, how they differ between their starting points in the mountains and where they end in valleys. They took multiple trips to rivers around Oregon to study the landscapes and the ecosystems.
Along the outside wall of the presentation room were paintings, drawings, fact-sheets and info-graphics about the river and how to conserve it. The model itself was housed in its own room on top of a dirt-covered floor and surrounded by fake-plant-adorned walls. According to Shweighauser, it’s made out of “paper mache, lots of duct tape and Scotch Guard.” Unfortunately, leaking problems prevented them from flowing real water through it. Still, I learned a lot about river systems and how humans are affecting them — especially through pollution.
Then I was led into the “Cave,” a dark room with several computers and a projector, where another sophomore, Tyler Church, taught me all about the macroinvertebrates (relatively big things like insects who lack a backbone) that live in and around the river. I learned about how water nymphs propel themselves by sucking water into their butts and then shooting it out, and how praying mantises can actually catch and eat birds.
After thanking Church for his wonderful bug presentation and avoiding an influx of little kids, Shweighauser took me to the Physics Carnival.
All the games were decided on and built by the students. There was skee ball, ring toss, “Atomic Golf,” a Learn-To-Juggle booth, a Wheel of Fortune (Or Misfortune) and a myriad of other booths, all demonstrating a concept of physics. I learned about torque, spring tension, velocity, acceleration, sound waves and even won a couple of prizes. The students, all juniors and seniors, were dressed up, enthusiastic and raring to teach me about physics.
My favorite carnival attraction, though I didn’t actually get to participate, was junior Mickey Means-Brous’ “Salmon Tent.” In a room right off the main lobby, there was a huge inflatable fish kids entered and explored. Means-Brous taught the children about food-web concepts, the water cycle and most importantly, water conservation.
“One drop of water can give life,” said Means-Brous.
She told the kids they can converse water easily, doing simple things like turning off the faucet while you brush your teeth or collecting leftover shower water and using it to water your plants.
She ended the talk by telling the kids that they are that one drop of water, and they can use their knowledge to help the planet.
It’s pretty deep for seven-year-olds, but I think that subconsciously they’ll absorb it.@@no pun intended?@@
I was amazed at all the work put into these different projects and wished college was more like this high school. Instead of forcing us to stress over tests, quizzes and homework, why can’t we all just choose to prove our knowledge of a subject in a different way? I’d much prefer making a game out of the digestive system, or phototropism, or Kepler’s Third Law than take a stressful test. In putting on these performances for the public, these kids are not only just finishing a school project, but also spreading knowledge in a fun and entertaining fashion. Shooting a ball out of a spring-loaded contraption was a much more accessible way to learn about spring-tension than learning about it without context, in a classroom.
I think Means-Brous’ project was the epitome of what this performance was all about — learning about science and then presenting it to the public.